Álvaro Benito Villar (born 10 December 1976) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a left midfielder, currently vocalist/guitarist of Rock band Pignoise.
Benito was relatively used by the main squad in the 1995–96 season,[1] and contributed seven matches the following campaign as they were crowned La Liga champions.[2] In November 1996, he suffered a severe knee injury from which he would never fully recover, undergoing three operations in only four months in 1998 in Pittsburgh, United States; he was involved in a car accident afterwards, which further curtailed his recovering process.[3]
After one unassuming loan with CD Tenerife and another spell with Castilla, Benito was released by Real Madrid in summer 2002, joining city neighbours Getafe CF of Segunda División.[4] He appeared rarely for his new club, again due to injury.[5]
After retiring, Benito was in charge of several of Real's youth sides, starting with the Alevín B in 2015.[6][7][8] He was dismissed in late February 2019, following criticism of the first team after a 0–3 home defeat against FC Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey on a radio show.[9]
During his rehabilitation period, Benito started playing guitar and writing songs, going on to put together a band, Pignoise. The group, which also featured another former footballer, Héctor Polo (Real Zaragoza, Rayo Vallecano), eventually used many of the songs he composed prior to its creation.[11]
^Díaz, José Félix; Polo, Pablo (6 June 2017). "Una nueva oportunidad para Solari" [A new chance for Solari]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 October 2018.
^García, Pedro (13 November 1996). "España Sub-21 no arranca "Las Palmas"" [Spain Under-21 do not get "The Claps" ("Las Palmas" in English, pun on city where match was held) started]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 October 2018.